Top 10 automakers by manganese deployed 

The batteries of EVs sold globally from January through November 2024 contained 66,152 tonnes of manganese, 11% more than the same period the year before.  

According to data from the Adamas Intelligence EV Battery Intel Platform, in November 2024 a total of 6,835 tonnes of manganese were deployed onto roads in the batteries of all newly sold passenger EVs worldwide.  

November was the third-best month on record for manganese deployment (after December 2023 and September last year) and constitutes a 3% increase compared to November 2023. 

Among automakers, the leading consumer of manganese in November was Geely, which owns among others the Volvo, Polestar and Zeekr makes.  The Chinese automaker deployed 910 tonnes of manganese, 17% more than in 2023. 

Volkswagen placed second with EVs in the extended stable of the German automaker deploying 784 tonnes during the month representing a 1% advance from November 2023.  

Volkswagen’s Skoda division, acquired from the Czech state in 1991, now produces nearly one million vehicles per annum and the brand’s popular Skoda Enyaq Coupe iV is the Volkswagen Group’s number one model in terms of manganese deployed, beating out the Audi Q4 e-tron and the VW ID.4 for top spot.

Chery shot up to third place during the month largely on the back of the success of the recently introduced Luxeed R7, the mid-size crossover of the Chinese automaker’s premium segment joint venture with telecoms giant Huawei. 

The Luxeed R7 comes fitted with a mid-nickel battery pack made by CALB or a LMFP pack manufactured by CATL. Despite only being introduced in Q1 of this year, LMFP was responsible for 2% of global manganese deployment onto roads in November, boosted by the R7 stablemate sports sedan called the S7. 

Unconfirmed reports say CATL will be supplying LMFP batteries to Tesla for its entry level Model 3 and Model Y in China and other cell suppliers investing in LMFP manufacturing capacity include BYD (which today has an all-LFP model line-up), Gotion and SVOLT.

With around 15–20% higher energy density than LFP and purported better cold weather performance, LMFP is set to eat into the market share of conventional LFP over the coming years but arguably presents less of a threat to NCM chemistries. 

After years of LFP growth and a turn towards high-nickel cathodes (less than ~20% manganese content) chipping away at the metal’s market share, rising adoption of LMFP batteries (and other Mn-rich cathode chemistries) is poised to turn the tide for manganese producers.